The inventor has patented various inventions related to displaying and dispensing disposable rain protection devices. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,233 for a display stand, U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,381 for a disposable rain hood, U.S. Pat. No. 6,389,723 for a stand for disposable rain protection devices, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,454,125 for a stacked assembly of disposable rain hoods, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. In general, these inventions involve suspending disposable rain protection devices from a stand for displaying and dispensing the devices.
One particular problem that the inventor has experienced with the foregoing designs for disposable rain protection devices is that the display holder that holds the disposable rain protection devices may tear under the repeated stress of pulling disposable rain protection devices in order to separate the devices from the display holder. A design for existing prior art display holders is shown as item 90 in FIG. 4. The display holder generally comprises a piece of paperboard, cardboard, other type of cardboard that is folded to form opposing flaps 96A and 96B. A stack of disposable rain protection devices 1 is attached to a lower end of the opposing flaps 96A, 96B. An aperture 92 passes through the opposing flaps 96A, 96B (FIGS. 3 and 4). As shown in FIG. 4, the display holder can be suspended from a display stand 200 by passing a prong 216 of the display stand through the aperture of the display holder 90.
Because of cost considerations in providing large volumes of disposable rain protection devices, the display holders 90 of such devices are typically made of paperboard, cardstock or other types of cardboard. Cardboard materials provide an optimal balance between tear resistance and economics of manufacture. However, cardboard materials, while generally tear resistant under the forces ordinarily encountered with this invention, are subject to tearing under certain circumstances, such as when excessive force is applied (for example, if a disposable rain protection devices does not tear away properly), after repeated stress from multiple pulls, or if the cardboard becomes wet. When a passerby pulls an individual disposable rain protection device in order to separate it from the display holder 90, stress is created between the prong 216 of the display stand 200 and the aperture 92. With repeated stress, such as when a dozen or more disposable rain protection devices are pulled and separated from the display holder 90, the display holder may tear at the aperture 92. Once a tear starts, it is likely to become larger. Continued removal of disposable rain protection devices may tear the aperture 92 to the point that the display holder, along with the disposable rain protection devices, falls off of the stand. Even in situations where the display holder does not tear entirely off of the display stand, tears may be unsightly, particularly to proprietors of businesses and public buildings.
The inventor has recently extended the concept of using stands to display and dispense disposable items to the field of disposable biohazard containment bags, but without the use of the reinforced holders described herein. Numerous biological (i.e, biohazardous) waste materials are generated in hospitals, doctors' offices, veterinarians' offices, research facilities, and the like. These waste materials may include items of dry or semi-solid material (e.g., pathological wastes, blood supply paraphernalia, dressings, gloves, gowns, and blood-soaked linen) and/or liquid waste (e.g., blood plasma, body fluid specimens, and discarded vaccines). These waste materials may include sharp items (commonly referred to in the medical arts as “sharps”), such as hypodermic needles, syringes, blood vials, scalpel blades, culture dishes, and broken and unbroken glassware that were in contact with biological material. Exposure to these waste materials prior to their ultimate disposal may result in undesired contamination and/or infections. In recent years, the additional risk of infection with the AIDS virus has intensified the need for a method of disposing of medical wastes with minimum risk of cross-contamination.
The foregoing biohazard wastes are typically disposed of in a particular type of bag known as a biohazard containment bag, details of which are shown in FIG. 15 and are described below. Biohazard containment bags have conventionally been dispensed from boxes. Applying the concepts of the above mentioned patents, the inventor has recently begun displaying and dispensing biohazard containment bags in a stacked assembly using the conventional unreinforced holder shown in FIG. 4. The present application is directed to applying the concept of a reinforced holder, discussed in pending application Ser. No. 10/109,012, to displaying and dispensing biohazard containment bags.